Maskelyne Park, Manor Farm

Research Aim: How can communal events help engage and encourage local residents to unite and turn a neglected green space into a valued community facility?

Manor Farm is currently the largest estate in Bristol without any kind of community facility. It has often described as the “forgotten estate” with particular concerns regarding anti-social housing and historic neighbourhood disputes. At the centre of the estate which sits between Southmead and Horfield is a small urban greenspace called Maskelyne Park. It is located in-between a mix of social and privately-owned housing and is currently severely underused following the removal of a multi-use games area (MUGA). Due to its under-use the park has fallen into a state of disrepair, however, the lack of community green space within the estate means the site is an important asset and if revived could become a popular facility at the heart of the estate.

This project intended to work together with the local residents and propose a feasible regeneration scheme which if successful would; improve the quality of the parks spaces, improve relationships within the community, provide facilities for the community to take ownership of and encourage them to shape their own environments.

To engage the local residents, we held consultation events at a local pub and primary school in order to generate ideas for our outline proposal which will be presented to residents and council members in 2018. Further community events are planned to take place on the park during the summer to test these ideas and encourage residents to actively take part in the design process. Further participation from the community makes for a stronger case for future discussions with the council to materialise our initial proposal.